Murdoch Discover

Murdoch Discover is a fictional mobile app created as part of a project at Murdoch University. The purpose of this project was to design and build a prototype of an app that would help to solve a common issue or problem of the students at Murdoch. Based on research conducted, it was discovered that students were experiencing difficulties with interpreting information provided by Murdoch, both off-campus and on-campus, in response to questions that they had about navigating university life. This was including: classroom locations, parking, timetables and student IDs. Getting the answers to these questions was also proved more difficult for those who weren't as comfortable with asking those around campus or in their classes for help. This app was built to benefit the students by making this process simpler and without need for social interaction if not desired.

Before the app could be designed and prototyped, there was an extensive research phase that occurred. For this project, a list of questions was constructed about the Murdoch University experience and where the difficulties lied for the students to be able to get the most out of being at the university. This was conducted in the first week of Semester 1 to get as many first-year students as possible, a demographic that would be starting their experience and relying on the Murdoch resources to navigate the campus. From this we were able to narrow down the main issues that were reoccurring with most students and find out what this app was going to focus on.

Along with in-person interviews on-campus, we also carried out other research processes. This included: behavioural archetypes to describe the types of users that would be the ideal candidate for this app and competitor analyses to see where the gaps in the industry were that would make this app stand out. From the research conducted, it was made apparent that:

There weren't many apps on the market looking to help students connect or find answers to
The app needed to be simple and easily categorised to find the appropriate information
Essential that the app would be free due to student financial situations

To prepare for the design and prototyping phase, I constructed wireflows, system maps and user flow diagrams. This process would flesh out the app through the placement of design features and highlight the pathways that would be used to navigate most effectively through the app. Once this was mapped out the design was formed for the app and prototyped for usability testing with students around Murdoch.

The usability testing allowed us to gain a deeper understanding of the app's audience and their needs. Public usability testing can provide crucial feedback through the identification of any flaws within the app or areas of confusion, allowing for iterations in the next stage of the app development to improve the user experience. A standard script was written for the conduction of the testing process, asking the user to perform certain tasks within the app whilst asking questions about the app's design and functionality. From this, I discovered that there were many features that were well understood and easily navigable, but that there were some that weren't as easily found by the user and needed prompting to find. The 'My Profile' section was one that was flagged as having navigational issues and design flaws that created difficulties in finding where to create their profile. This gave me the opportunity to go back into the prototype and reassess decisions and adjust them from the feedback received by the testing. After these iterations, the final app was produced that was turned in for submission for the project.